Sexuality
'Sexuality '''is a topic frequently touched upon within MS Paint Adventures, especially the interrelated sub-topics of sex, gender and romance which are prevalent in Homestuck and its spinoffs. Sexual imagery, humor, and discussion is used throughout most of Andrew Hussie's works. Sexual orientations of various species and characters are discussed at exceptional length throughout the entirety of Homestuck, with trolls being overall bisexual, humans heterosexual, and leprechauns homosexual. Numerous exceptions to this apply, with multiple minor story arcs being built around the sexualities of characters. Sex is not directly explored in Homestuck in-depth, outside of a scene depicting the violent mating session between Calliope and Caliborn's parents; but, the Homestuck Epilogues contain numerous scenes involving graphic sexual acts between several characters. Also of note is that Homestuck jokingly references various aspects of sex, such as through smuppets and buckets. Romance is exceptionally complex and unique in Homestuck, with an almost entirely original system of romance using quadrants/charms that categorically divide up various methods for choosing romantic partners and mating with them. Gender is lightly referenced throughout Homestuck, and is far more directly discussed in the Homestuck Epilogues. Sex Sex varies wildly across species in Homestuck and the Homestuck Epilogues, with some interspecies mating shown to be possible while others are not. The anatomical differences between species, as well as their default sexual orientations, provide these natural barriers. Cherubs become lightyear-long snaking creatures when engaged in mating, and are simultaneously conveyed to be otherwise asexual outside of incredibly hateful combative mating with partners of the same species, presenting both strong anatomical and sexual barriers to interspecies mating. Meanwhile, trolls and humans engage in romantic relationships due to similar anatomy, with only a minimal barrier of sexuality imposed by humans usually being heterosexual whereas trolls are more sexually malleable by usually being bisexual. Leprechauns on the other hand appear to have roughly similar structures to humans and trolls, albeit oftentimes far tinier or bulkier, but are limited by the fact they are usually homosexual, though this barrier is not so great between them and trolls. Karkat Vantas is the only character in Homestuck to have had a Leprechaun convey romance for them, which occurred during the Collide animation upon his defeat of Clover from The Felt. Among Humans Although " ,}}" (usually) human sexuality is varied, and Homestuck depicts various non-heterosexual relationships. Dirk Strider is attracted only to other men, but considers the term "gay," commonly used to refer to non-heterosexual relationships between men, to be " }}," possibly due to his version of Earth's exposure to Alternian reproductive norms. During the Homestuck Epilogues, Jade Harley engages in interspecies sexual relations with carapacians, trolls, and people, conveying that human anatomy is sexually compatible trolls and carapacians. In order to reproduce, human females are directly impregnated and birth the offspring. Among Trolls As opposed to those of humans, troll reproductive pairs are }}. It appears to be because of this that terms like "homosexual" are not " }}" in the Alternian vocabulary. The Condesce's government enforces that trolls must mate in order to contribute sexual splooges into buckets to be delivered to the Mother Grub so the Mother Grub can then churn the splooge into grubs that are birthed and grow up to be trolls. Interspecies sexual relations with trolls are shown to be possible in the Homestuck Epilogues through Jade's sexual relations with trolls and Karkat, Jane's relations with Gamzee, and Terezi's relations with John. Trolls are said to have tentabulges which are not clarified to actually be tentacle-like or not. Among Lusii A lusus is a beast that chooses a troll based on scent upon the troll emerging victorious from their trials. It is a lifelong custodian, caretaker, pet, and/or butler depending on the kind of lusus the troll gets, and a troll without a lusus is normally culled. They are described as pure white horrifying beasts found in the brooding caverns, and can be artificially created as was the case with Karkat's "crabdad" made for his unique candy red blood color, though the exact sexual or otherwise means of lusus reproduction remain unclear. The numerous numbers of lusii both on Earth and Alternia indicate lusii may reproduce through similar methods to how animals do. Among Mother Grubs A Matriorb is an egg required to hatch a Mother Grub, a kind of lusus, and comes from the abdomen of a Mother Grub, possibly exclusive to virgin Mother Grubs. A virgin Mother Grub is a Mother Grub that declined to brood and instead chose to be a custodian lusus, as was the case for the troll Kanaya Maryam's lusus. Mother Grubs are normally cared for by the rare Jade-blooded trolls in troll society, such as Kanaya Maryam and Porrim Maryam. A Mother Grub is only known to produce troll offspring, by receiving buckets of sexual troll splooge, and then churning the splooge into grubs which will grow up to be trolls. Among Cherubs ''Related Article: Cherub Sex Like humans, cherub reproductive pairs could be described as "heterosexual," with binary sexes. However, both sexes are capable of producing an egg, as male and female are biologically identical (a personality of each sex occupies the same body until one predominates). Cherubic mating is exceptionally dramatic. The cherub with a predisposition toward destruction will leave a trail of destruction in the universe for the cherub with a predisposition toward protection to follow. Upon the protective cherub meeting the destructive cherub, both will engage in sexual combat. Both mates will transform into literally lightyear-long snaking green reptilian forms with crocodile-like heads, as a result of both mates tapping into cosmic forces. Both potential mates will then battle it out, biting each other bloody until a clear victor emerges. This sexual battle risks one or both mates potentially dying before impregnation and birthing can occur. Should a clear victor emerge, the losing cherub will be impregnated by the victor, and will then fly off through space to a planet habitable for their species. There, the losing cherub will lay an egg and leave the nesting grounds. That red-and-green egg will eventually hatch to reveal a small snake-like cherub which will grow up to have split-personality disorder with one personality awake during half the day and the other personality awake during the other half of the day, until one personality is destroyed by the other as the cherub grows up. Calliope, in the Homestuck Epilogues' Meat path's postscript, engages in an act of vore toward her brother while wielding Jade's body. This act of vore may have been sexual on Calliope's part due to it being an unnecessary means of destroying him, and simultaneously involving a great deal of hatred she holds toward him. Among Carapacians Carapacians have shell-like exteriors and are able to engage in interspecies sexual relations, as demonstrated through Jade having had sex with numerous carapacians in the Homestuck Epilogues. Nothing is stated in Homestuck regarding how carapacians produce offspring. Among Leprechauns Leprechauns are stated to be exclusively homosexual and reproduce through a mating jig, with that jig having a direct correlation with what combination of charms the leprechauns share between each other. The sexual intercourse is implied by Aranea's glitched text to heavily involve their butts. Among Genesis Frogs Homestuck's entire story is built around the breeding of a Genesis Frog, with initial failure by the trolls, and later success by the kids with the help of the trolls. This breeding process involves the frog impregnating two different planets as both penetrator and the "spermatozoon" of sorts. Reproducing a Genesis Frog requires dropping a small Genesis Frog through a volcano into a planet's core, where it would transform over time into a larger tadpole. The planet would in this case serve as a first of two wombs which is impregnated with the frog. This tadpole must then be launched out of the planet's core in an act of planetary birth through the volcano into Skaia, a planet surrounded by clouds and light which serves as a second womb impregnated by the tadpole. Upon reaching Skaia's core, the tadpole begins transforming into a frog, with it first morphing in shape and then rapidly expanding in an explosion of light until it becomes a giant white glowing adult Genesis Frog merged with Skaia itself, as shown in the animation Act 7. Skaia in this case both gives birth to, and merges with, the Genesis Frog as both mother and child of a new universe. Among Underlings In addition to extensive knowledge on the topics of cherub, leprechaun and troll sex, Aranea on the topic of . Among Furries Related Article: Furry fandom The furry fandom has a sexual presence in Homestuck. The Homestuck Epilogues touch on how Jade is part dog while simultaneously mating with different people, and Jade prior to this had a love of the furry fandom but this was originally only displayed in a more innocent manner. However, Jade did display knowledge of the sexual side of the furry fandom even in her youth, by naming consorts "funny names" such as " }}", with "yiff" being a reference to porn of furry characters. The troll Equius Zahhak meanwhile had the walls of his home with furry pornography, in a far more explicit sexual reference to furries. His chumhandle, , reflects his love of the horses and centaurs in the furry fandom. Ectobiology Ectobiology is notable in Homestuck for changing reproduction to an entirely mechanical process for humans and trolls, with their biological DNA ectobiologically cloned and mixed by a machine into a new person through a mechanical act of sex, entirely circumventing the normal biological process. This is the process through which all beta and alpha humans, as well as all descendant and dancestor trolls, were created. Sexual Gags Related Article: Ongoing gags '' Homestuck utilizes a vast number of sexual gags and memes, usually related to butts and penises. Hunk Rump is a gay porn magazine referenced in Bard Quest, Jailbreak, Problem Sleuth, and Homestuck. Dave's older brother Dirk Strider runs a website called plush rump, and is known for having a business built around selling smuppets, a portmanteau of smut and puppets, with smuppets having notably large plush butts and fallic noses. There is a notable scene involving penis ouija, wherein Dave makes Karkat draw a penis, which is also the name of Act 6 Intermission 2. Being fuck-deep in stuff is a running gag which has been used in relation to smuppets, fallic imagery, and sexual phrasing. Another running gag is Nicolas Cage saying boner. Buckets, is perhaps the most notable gag in Homestuck, with the humor rooted in how buckets are normally used in troll society to carry the sexual splooge trolls excrete when mating. Romance Romance in Homestuck varies between species, but the unifying theory Homestuck presents across species is Quadrants, which organizes romance into categorical ways partners attempt to form a romantic/ reproductive relationship. The first introduced primary form is a 4-category set of quadrants used for troll romance and consists of loving romance (matespritship), antagonistic romance (kismesissitude), intimate friendly romance (moirallegiance), and intimate mediatory romance (auspisticism). There is additionally a separate romantic 9-category set of quadrants, referred to as charms, that are used for leprechaun romance which uses romantic games of chance, riddles, pranks and humor intended to attract a partner through fun. Among Humans Homestuck states there is only one primary form of human romance, known as "love," with partners that are referred to as matesprits, and is represented by the heart symbol. During the Epilogues, this is shown not to always be the case to an extent, such as Jane engaging in auspisticism, Dave appearing to fill multiple quadrants with Karkat, and Jade having a certain level of kismessisitude established with Karkat. The only other species stated to have a one-quadrant romance system as humans have is the cherubs, who solely have a particularly hateful black romance through the spade quadrant's kismessisitude. Among Trolls ''Related Article: Quadrants Trolls utilize the four-quadrant system of romance involving the spade, diamond, heart, and club quadrants. Troll society has a notably large amount of aggression and hate infused into its romantic system. This aggression and hate in troll romance is spurred on by culturally promoted attitudes for trolls of certain blood colors to be more violent and powerful. In order to weed out the weak, young trolls are also expected to overcome the Trials in the Brooding Caverns, which artifically increases the amount of violent trolls in society, contributing to the aggression and hate within the romance system of trolls. Hate among trolls is stated to sometimes grow so great there is a significant risk of both partners killing each other, which necessitates the club quadrant's mediatory auspisticism which helps romantically ensure trolls have a healthy balance of hate without resorting to murder. Among Cherubs Related Article: Cherub Romance Like human romance, cherub romance features only one type, equivalent to the "hate" represented by the spade symbol in troll romance. Each cherub is also born with one of two " }}" which must oppose that of their potential romantic partner. This romance is described to be a particularly pitch-black form of pure hate expressed solely through destruction and a single romantic battle for dominance. Cherubs otherwise normally live romance-less, isolated lives floating through the universe alone as either the protector or destroyer of their chosen portion of the universe. Among Carapacians Though little is known about the exact nature of carapacian romance, they appear to form heterosexual pairs similar to those of "love" found in human culture, such as that between the White King and Queen. In addition to this, however, carapacians have been known to form pairs that are " }}," such as between Jack Noir and the Black Queen, whose relationship has been . Among Leprechauns Related Article: Leprechaun Romance Of the described forms of romance in Homestuck, Leprechaun romance is the least understood. As opposed to human romance, which requires only one symbol to be described, and troll romance, which requires four, leprechaun romance requires nine symbols, also known as charms. Each charm represents a form of romance and }} than those of either of the other two races. According to Aranea, one of the symbols (presumably the pink heart) represents romantic "love" as understood similarly by both humans and trolls, but none of the other symbols are comparable, with no equivalents to black and red or conciliatory and concupiscient romance. Leprechauns strive to have as many charms in a relationship as possible, the more being the better, with three charms or more being considered a trove. Among Consorts Aranea also on the topic of , but does not elaborate on her knowledge. Heart Aspect The Heart Aspect may have something to do with romance. This could explain why the trolls Nepeta Leijon and Meulin Leijon, both Heroes of Heart, are interested in shipping. Dirk also seems to enjoy shipping in his own manner by making shipped scenes of himself and his friends at Caliborn's request. Shipping Shipping, the act of speculating on romantic relationships between characters, is heavily referenced and explored inside of Homestuck, to the point it somewhat meta-references how the fandom surrounding Homestuck is obsessed with shipping characters together. Nepeta and Meulin have a strong proclivity toward discussing ships, with Nepeta having created her own shipping wall out of blood and ash. Gender ''Problem Sleuth'' Gender is represented in simplistic binary terms in Problem Sleuth, with most male characters having alter egos of the opposite sex, save for those who lack the imagination to think of one. Andrew Hussie describes this as }}. ''Homestuck'' For much of Homestuck, gender is used in a similar simplistic manner as in Problem Sleuth. Every known Sburb session has included an even number of male and female players (save for Caliborn and the alternate Calliope's one-player dead session after they killed their other players), as do both ectobiological families among the human players. Trolls share genders with their ancestors, and seem to refer to their lusii in kind, though Jasprosesprite^2 believes that animals like cats }} Davepetasprite^2 is the first character in Homestuck to actively question their gender, feeling unsure of what matters to them due to their constituent parts, Dave Strider and Nepeta Leijon, both having deep feelings regarding their identities as a boy and a girl, respectively. Despite their bisexual nature, trolls appear to still have established roles for each gender, with Karkat describing Flarp as being " }}." In A6I3 , Porrim describes Alternia as being subject to a due to the influence of and his control over Her Imperious Condescension. This gender heirarchy on Alternia is likely interconnected with the heirarchy of the Hemospectrum, with "CIPs" (cobalt-, indigo- and purplebloods) being described as , leading to a and on Beforus. ''Homestuck Epilogues'' Gender plays a more significant role in the Homestuck Epilogues than in their predecessor, with Roxy and Calliope describing their experiences with it and experimenting with their identities in both the Meat and Candy epilogues. Roxy describes gender as , with Calliope stating that their notions of gender Calliope also supports Porrim's assertion that influenced Alternia's gender roles, stating that their own observations of human gender alongside Caliborn's which in turn influenced that of Earth. From this Roxy concludes that . Because of this, in the Meat epilogue Roxy goes on to identify as a male and use masculine he/him pronouns. In the Candy epilogue, however, Roxy states that they aren't and seems to continue to use the same feminine she/her pronouns as in Homestuck. Category:Problem Sleuth concepts Category:Homestuck concepts Category:The Homestuck Epilogues